Shadow of Glory
by x.PuddingLover.x
Summary: Tezuka Kitana is Tezuka's little sister. She thought she was one of the world's best players until she was beaten by Echizen, who she thought was Horio. She is prepared to beat Echizen, step out of her brother's shadow and prove to the world that she isn't just Tezuka's sister. She will find love, adventure and hardships waiting for her, will she be able to pass the test?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Prince of Tennis. (Lucky Konomi-sensei...)

**This goes out to my friend who supported me so much and if she by any chance sees this, here is my message to you. Thanks and stop being so picky. ;)**

"Nii-san," a girl waved Tezuka. "Whoa, that girl's got guts, she actually waved at Tezuka-buchou with no fear of being rejected by his infamous glare." Momoshiro snickered. Tezuka glared at him, "Momoshiro, twenty laps!" Momoshiro groaned and muttered, "So not worth it." Tezuka turned his attention to the girl, who motioned for him to come over. "Kitana," he addressed to the girl, "Why are you here?" He demanded. Kitana scoffed, "At least pretend to be happy to see me, Kunimitsu." Tezuka's faced softened for a second but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Anyways, my flight landed early and while I was searching through some tennis magazines I saw your face and in the article it mentioned Seishun Gakuen so I asked for directions" she told him. There was a silent moment between each other as they observed each other. Kitana thought, 'Wow, the number fangirls he has is incredible.' Suddenly,Tezuka's booming voice brought her back from her thoughts. "You should go home," said Tezuka. Kitana made a face, " I just got here and you want me to leave?" She asked incrediously, "Well, too bad for you then, I'm staying. If you are thinking about making me run laps you can forget it cause you aren't my captain." She replied, smugged. Tezuka twitched, Kitana continued on, "I'll just walk around anyways. If for some random reason some mental pervert attacks me I'll just knee him in the groin and bonk him on the head with my racket or something." Tezuka twitched again at his little sister's choice of vocabulary and attempted to keep that image away from his mind. He cleared his throat," Fine then." Kitana smirked and she strolled off.

She walked around until she arrived at her first destination, the library. Despite her love for tennis itself, she is also obsessed with anything related to it. As she scanned through the tennis magazines section. She found the magazine she was looking for. She grabbed it excitedly but it didn't budge. She let go of the magazine and saw that the magazine had slid back. She quickly ran to the other side and saw a short and oddly familiar boy wearing a white cap on. "Hey, I got that magazine first. Ryoma looked at her and he asked, "Anata wa?" Kitana twitched at his bluntness, "Atashi wa Tezuka Kitana desu." Ryoma smirked, "Anata wa buchou no imouto." Kitana grimaced, "Dakara, nani?" Ryoma was amused by her attitude, "Ehh, Omoshiroi." 'Nani wa, kono chibi?' Kitana thought. "I'll play you for it." Kitana clenched her teeth, trying to hold back her anger. Ryoma cocked his head sideways. "I mean, I'll play you tennis for this magazine." Kitana explained, irritated. Ryoma smirked, "Sure." Kitana smiled, "Yeah, if you win I get the magazine and if you win you can have it." Ryoma smirked, "Sure, but you're not going to win." Kitana smirked, "Better not underestimate your opponent."

AT THE COURTS

"You're a regular?" Kitana asked, shocked. Ryoma shrugged, "Yeah, wasn't it you who said never underestimate your opponent." "So, Kitana is versus our little rookie huh? Now that is a match up I'd pay to see." Fuji smiled, "Not really, according to the data I have on Kitana, she's got along way to go before she can beat him," Inui said, "So, I conclude that she will return the twist serve but with difficulty and it'll be like fighting a losing battle." Kitana had heard all of it and twitched at every single thing he said, but she was gonna prove him wrong by beating this kid. How hard could it be? She's played many professionals around the world and many critics have complimented her, and comparing her to a seventh grader on a school team this match will be over before you know , she can go on to finding that infamous Echizen kid and beat him instead.

"Ok no refs, Chiisana Chibi-san we'll make the calls." Kitana pointed her racket at Ryoma. Ryoma smirked, "Whatever. Rough or Smooth." Kitana replied confidently, "Rough," and it landed on rough. Inui looked into his notebook, "From my calculations, the percentage of Kitana winning is 30%." Suddenly, a ball shot pass the fence and flew right past Inui's face. Kitana hissed, "Take those words back, Sadaharu. Say one more thing about my match and you're dead meat." Kitana turns back to Ryoma and smiles sadistically, "Let's have a fun match, shall we?" She asked as she got into position and served. Ryoma quickly returned it. Kitana drop-shotted him, "Ball control is my specialty." She told him, confidently. Ryoma ran for the net and lobbed it. She quickly smashed it at his baseline. She made a v-sign to Inui and she grinned.

"Sakuno, that girl is really irking Ryoma-sama huh? She thinks she can just insult him and challenge him like that." Tomoka wrinkled her nose, Sakuno nodded, "But, she does looks like she's having a lot of fun" She said softly with a smile.

As the match went on Kitana became more and more slow because of her lack of stamina. Kitana racked her brain for any technique she had seen while traveling. She remembered the Wimbledon games she had watched in England and the harsh training in New York. Then, she suddenly remembered! She could use the technique she had developed in Germany. She smirked, now matter how good the boy was he can't beat a shot used by a professional. She walk up the baseline and commanded Ryoma to serve, "Chiisana Chibi-san, ikke!" They rallied for a good long five minutes and suddenly, Kitana aimed for a drop shot. Ryoma ran for it and missed it. Kitana smirked, this just might be fun. She served and it went charged towards Ryoma then it suddenly dropped and rolled all the way to the baseline. "Point Blank," Kitana smirked. She served and they broke out into another long rallied.

END OF THE MATCH "Game and Match to me." Ryoma panted, "Good game, we should again some time." Kitana managed out between her breaths, Ryoma pulled down his hat and smiled, "Mada mada dane" Kitana scowled, "You know you barely won, so I wouldn't be talking." Ryoma looked taken back but it was replaced with a smirk, "See you around, buchou no imouto." And with that he walked out the tennis court. Kitana just watched him. She couldn't manage out any words at the moment. The shock was too big. Had she just been beaten by an unknown player? "Chiisana Chibi-san. I never caught your name." She yelled back. Ryoma was suprised at the fact she had even remembered to ask for his name, but then smirked. "The names Horio, and I have two year of tennis experience." Kitana nodded, "I hate to admit it but, you were pretty good for a person with only two years."

ELSEWHERE

"Achoo," Horio sneezed, "Hmm, must be someone talking about my awesome two years of tennis experience."


	2. Chapter 2

Kitana looked around her surroundings, "So, this is the infamous public tennis courts huh?" Kitana had to admit this place wasn't as shabby as she thought it would be. Just as she thought, the place was busy on sundays. She searched around for an empty tennis court. Kitana wore a neon green track suit and she had tied her bronze hair into a high ponytail. She wanted to get some practise in before the weekend was over.

Then'she finally found a small court. It wasn't much but it would have to do. She absent-mindedly fumbled through her bag for her racket and started to rallied with the wall. She thought back to her match with Ryoma. How could have she lost? She had beaten so many people that she had lost count, she had won so many awards, they were almost taking over her room. So, how did she lose to an unknown brat? Suddenly, a tennis ball zoomed past her, making her snap back from her thoughts. She picked up the ball and turned around to glared at the culprit. She saw eight boys standing behind her in yellow jerseys. She demanded, "Who does this tennis ball belong to?" A boy with seaweed-coloured hair responded coolly, "It's mine" Kitana frowned and tossed it back to him, "Yeah? No offense but, you need better control of your ball and where it's headed before it hurts someone accidentally." Kirihara snapped, "Shut up, you annoying brat." "Go ahead and make me," Kitana challenged, "A match, here, right now." Kirihara scoffed, "What makes you think I would waste my precious time playing an low-leveled player like you?" Kitana smirked, "I don't think that it's wasting time you care about. I think you are scared." Kirihara growled, "You wanna test that, kid?" Kitana smiled, he fell for it! "Sure, let's play."

"Smooth or rough?" Kitana asked. "Rough," Kitana spun the racket, it landed on rough. "Looks like I'll be serving first, brat." Kirihara smirked. Kitana rolled her eyes

Kirihara bounced the ball a couple of times and threw the ball into the air. He smirked as he got into his position to serve. The team immediatly recognized that position. "Oi Kirihara, she's a girl! You can't use that serve, she'll get badly injured!" Jackal exclaimed. But, it was too late. She attempted to dodge it but it smashed into her shoulder instead. She collapsed and held her shoulder in pain. Jackal was about to rush on to the courts and stop the match. But Yanagi stopped him. "Jackal, that's Tezuka's sister. I wanna see what the sister of Seigaku's Pillar of Support can do." Suddenly, the team all turned to Yanagi, "She's Tezuka-san's sister?" Yanagi nodded, "Kitana Tezuka She born on July the 21st. She is right-handed and an all-rounder. She traveled the world the last few years playing tournments and winning them all. Rumour has it that she's met Federer himself and trained under him," Yanagi stated his data, "That is all I have right now." The team all looked shocked. "But even if she is Tezuka's sister, she's hurt and Tezuka-san won't be very happy about that." Yagyuu said. Yanagi replied "For now, I want to gather some data and then if it gets worse Sanada will stop the match, won't you Genichirou?" Sanada ignored him.

"Eh? Omoshiroi, kimi wa Tezuka-san no imouto?" Kirihara smirked. Why? Why do these people even know of her brother? Even these complete strangers compares her to her brother! Kitana was sick of it. "Dakara nani?" Her bangs covered her eyes and she growled, "You think you can just talk about me as if you know everything about me? About my pain? About my brother? People like you make me sick to the bone." She grabbed her racket, she may not be able to play with her right-hand that well due to the pain but she will not give in. Just thinking about it makes her disgusted, her brother saying, 'Yudan sezu ni iku' that Horio kid saying, 'Mada mada dane'. She will not lose like that again. "Shut the hell up!" She hissed through her clanched teeth. She served a serve that went at the speed of light towards Kirihara and it suddenly dropped right infront of him and rolled all the way to the baseline. "Point Blank." She smirked, ignoring the excruciating pain she was experiencing. Kirihara was suprised she still had so much in her. He served the knuckle serve and Kitana dodged it, barely. The two rallied back and forth. Kitana sometimes attempted to smash the ball with all her might but instead she can only returned it due to the pain in her shoulder. "Kirihara, stop the match now." Sanada's deep voice commanded. Kirihara turned to his fukubuchou and pouted but listened. Kitana panted, "Running away?" Kirihara turned and glared, "No, just sparing your life." Kitana couldn't put up a fight in her condition. So, she got her tennis bag and left.

She fumed all the way home. Those hotshots! Talking about stuff they shouldn't. Kitana shook her head, how was she going to see her brother in this condition? She went around a small corner and checked her shoulder. It was badly bruised. She sighed, she was in for it now.

"Tadaima!" She said as she changed her shoes. She looked up and found Tezuka in front of her. Tezuka stared at her. Kitana stared back,"What? Is there something on face?" Tezuka asked, "Where were you?" Kitana's heart beated faster, she was gonna be in so much trouble. Kitana stared at the vase on the side of the room. "I was playing some guy at the tennis courts." She answered meekly. Tezuka spotted her abnormally slouching shoulder. "What happened to your shoulder?" He demanded. Kitana's head shot up, "Nothing happened." She said a little too quickly. Tezuka's hand grabbed it, "Ouch!" She exclaimed, "What was that for?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow, "Nothing happened? Who did you play?" Kitana looked away, "The guy had seaweed-looking hair and was extremely violent when he served it aimed for my face and when I tried to dodge it, it hit my shoulder really hard." Tezuka's voice bellowed, "How foolish can you get? do you wanna go through the same experience I went through?" Kitana winced but glared with all her might. "I'M NOT AS CARELESS AS YOU WERE!" Kitana yelled and ran upstairs. 


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm done, I got to get to school" said Kitana as she excused herself from the table. "Wow, Kitana today you ate faster than Kunimitsu. Are you gonna wait for your brother? It is your first day of school after all," Ayana asked Kitana, "Maybe he can introduce you to some of his friends." Kitana's mother winked. "MOM!" Kitana yelled, blushing. Ayana smiled, "But, Kunimitsu here is quite popular at his school though." She pressed on. "Yeah, popular with the ladies anyway. He scares the hell out of the guys, some even pee their pants at the sight of him." She muttered under her breath. "What was that, sweetie?" Ayana smiled at Kitana. Kitana realised that she had said her thought out loud, she quickly faked a grin and replied, "Nothing at all, I think I'd rather go ahead of onii-san." "Alright then, be safe. Have a pleasant first day, Kitana." Ayana waved good bye. Kitana nodded and left. As Kitana walked out the door, she sighed 'I swear my mother has a huge sadistic side to her.'

On her way to school, she was still mentally attempting to figuring out why was her brother so against the match she had with that guy yesterday. Does he have some type of sister complex anyway? No way, it's her brother she's talking about. Suddenly, a sleek, red car pulled up next to her. Kitana stared at it with curiousity. The window was rolled down and she saw Fuji's smiling face. "Tezuka-chan, wanna ride to school?" He asked kindly. Kitana knew she wasn't suppose to say yes and being polite but she really didn't want to trek to school on her first day so she agreed. Kitana slipped in the car next to Fuji she silently fumed at her brother and she cursed under her breath. Fuji sweatdropped at her obviously and decided to ask, "What's wrong, Tezuka-chan?" Kitana was glad that SOMEBODY actually cared about her. "Kunimitsu-nii is being an total asshole," she replied. Fuji sweatdropped, again, at her straightforward attitude, "Would you care to tell me why though?" Kitana nodded, "Yesterday, I went to that public tennis court that you recommended and there I played a guy with seaweed looking like hair with a crazy laugh in a yellow jersey" Suddenly, Fuji's eyes opened with shock. Kitana noticed this and asked hurrily, "Do you know him? What's his name?" Fuji thought for a moment, he realised it might be a better option if he didn't tell her about Kirihara. "I don't know him, sorry Tezuka-chan. Never heard of him." Kitana slumped back in disappointment. Fuji asked, "But, who won?" Kitana looked even more upset, she looked like she was about to throw a big fit like a baby. "There was no winner. We were in the middle of the match and their stupid, stoic, gigantic-looking captain put it to a stop!" Kitana whined. Fuji was amused at the fact that she had just called Sanada a stupid, stoic gigantic-looking captain. "And then," Kitana continued, "When I got home and told Kunimitsu-nii about it he got all mad and stuff!" Kitana took a big huff and she crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks which made her look sorta like a pouting child. "Tezuka-chan, we have a game to play today so when we are gone how about you take care of the club while we are gone. I'm sure Tezuka wouldn't mind. Besides, I know you really want to." Fuji suggested. Kitana thought for a second and nodded, "Ok then." Fuji smiled, he thought since Kitana was in such a bad mood he thought he might cheer her up, "Did you know Tezuka actually smiles?" Kitana gasped and nodded, "He rarely does it anymore, Fuji smiled, "So Tezuka was stiff when he was smaller too?" Kitana thought for a moment, "No, he was normal. I remember I called him Mitsu-nii back then." Kitana replied. Fuji was about to reply back but got interuppted by Yumiko, his sister. "Syuusuke, we're here." Fuji nodded, "Tezuka-chan, come on. Let's go." Kitana agreed and got out of the car. "Oh, you can call me Kitana, it's weird if you call me by my last name. It's like adding a cute suffix at the end of onii-san's name." Kitana shuddered at the thought. Fuji smiled for a moment, "You can called me Syuusuke too, if you want." "Okay then," Kitana smiled.

She entered the school gate with Fuji and they met the regulars in front of the school entrance. "Hey guys. Good luck at your game today." Kikumaru gave her a victory sign, "We can't lose when we've got our little kouhai cheering us on." Kitana smiled, back in north america, her friends never said stuff like this to her before. Kitana made a mental note to research some japanese traditions. Then, Oishi told everyone that Tezuka was here and that he had told them the bus was ready. The regulars each said their good-byes to the girl and left for the bus. Kitana called out to Ryoma, "Hey, Chiisana Chibi, good luck. You have to win today or else." Ryoma stared at her blankly for second for a second then he smirked and walked on. Kitana smiled, the boy may be cocky but he does have the potential and talent. She checked her watch, "Crap!" Kitana had only five minutes to make it to class. She dashed for the door. But instead was bombarded by fangirls. "Look, I don't have time for whatever crap you're going to say. I need to get to class." Kitana snapped, "Excuse me, but we happen to be older than you so shut your trap," A girl with middle length brown hair sneered. "We are the leaders of the tennis regulars fanclub and we happen to notice you talking to them. Listen here, you have no permission. to talk or associate with them without joining their fanclub first and going to every single game." Another black haired girl added, "Oh, and don't take anymore rides with Fuji-sama anymore or else you will get hurt. He's way out of your league anyway." Kitana twitched, they can't be serious. Kitana was about to retort but then thought that this predicament was suprisingly interesting and an excellent opportunity for revenge. "If any of you girls didn't know, I happen to be Tezuka Kunimitsu's sister and I can tell the him everything you just said," Kitana paused for a second to see their reaction, "But, instead, I propose a partnership. If you don't involve me with your stupid obsessions and I'll be on your side and help you stalk my brother, ok?" The girls nodded. Kitana started again, "And as for the other clubs. I wouldn't be threatening me if I was in your position." Kitana smirked, "If get what I'm saying." They gritted their teeth and didn't say anything. " Fine, prove it and get a sweaty t-shirt that Tezuka-sama wore and bring it tomorrow and we'll believe you." The brunette ordered. Kitana smirked " Easy enough." Kitana then started to walk away. Just like that, Kitana got all her brother's fan clubs under her control. 'It's good to be a girl' Kitana smirked. However, she suddenly remembered that she had only a couple of seconds left to get to her class so she picked up her pace and sped to her class. Being late on her first day was the worst thing Kitana had ever done to get on a teacher bad side.

Panting, Kitana slid the door open. "Tezuka-san. You are late." The teacher exclaimed annoyed. "It's hard to believe you're related to our school's hardworking, beloved president." Shocked murmurs rippled through the class. She was related to THE Tezuka Kunimitsu? Kitana twitched, was she always gonna be compared to her perfect older brother? "Okay, Tezuka-san you can start your self-introduction." The teacher motioned to Kitana. She pondered for a second for what to say, the entire school practically bowed down to her brother. Kitana gave a heavy sigh then started her self-introduction, "Hey, I'm Tezuka Kitana. Before you ask, I am Tezuka's little sister." She paused for a second, "I play tennis like my brother and I travel around the world to learn about tennis techniques and strategies." She said, hesitantly. Silence engulfed the class. Was her brother that sacred to the school that mentioning it w? The teacher waited impatiently, "Tezuka-san, anything else?" Kitana stared at the man with piercing eyes. "Like what?" The teacher thought for a second, "Like your dislikes and your likes," "And your type." A guy from the class piped up. Kitana blinked and sighed, "My favorite colour is green, My birthday is in March, I like eating melon pan bread and curry. I dislike asparagus, make-up, dresses and desperate or perverted jerks." Kitana wondered if she forgot anything, "Oh yeah, as for my type. Mind your own business!" The class was shocked and the teacher was also overwhelmed but was the first to come back from the trance. "Uh-hmph," he coughed, "Thank you for that interesting introduction, please go and sit down at the seat next to the window. We will commence class lessons now." Kitana thought, 'Was my introduction that disturbing? They asked for it anyway.' She sat next to the window in the very back row. Kitana placed her bag down and started doodling in her notebook. English wasn't a problem to her she had traveled around the world enough to know English, French and Chinese. Those languages are essential if you are traveling.

The day quickly passed by and she made her way the tennis club. When she got their she saw a guy bossing the freshman around. Kitana knew his wasn't a regular because all the regulars are at a game. Kitana walked up to him and poked him. The guy turned around with a smug but unpleasant expression. "What do you want?" He said in a gruff voice. Kitana was used to being treated roughly. When she was traveling in North America she met all sorts of guys like him. "Oh nothing, just wondering why you're bossing around the club when you aren't even a regular." She replied, coolly. The guy looked piss off, "Oh yeah? Well I'm the closest out of the entire club to become one. So, I take care of them when they're gone." Kitana's face got unamused written all over it. "Okay, and what's your name?" The guy seemed to calm down a bit. "The name's Arai" Kitana looked up at Arai, "Well Arai, I'm supposed to train the team today. I'll play you for it." Arai stared at her incrediously, did the girl just challenge him to a tennis match? Arai was about to laugh, "I'm not so sure, you might get hurt that pretty little face of yours." Kitana growled, "Jackass, if you're to scared to accept my challenge then you will never be a regular." That got Arai perked up, "What? What did you just say, kid?" Kitana scoffed, "You aren't just wimpy but you're deaf too? I said, " Arai interrupted, "I heard you, brat," "I also except your challenge. But don't go crying home to your mommy if you get hurt." Kitana smirked, "Not a chance."

They went to the empty court, "Kitana to serve." Kitana took a breath and served the serve as if her life depended on it. "Service Ace, Advantage Kitana." Arai's jaws dropped, how dare she make fun of him. She gonna pay for making a fool out of him. "My turn to serve." Arai announced. Kitana smirked, he sure is cocky. Arai served a awfully fast serve. But, Kitana didn't even bother to return that because it was out. Kitana served a quick serve and Arai smirked, "That weak serve won't get you any where." He returned it with ease. Now it was Kitana's turn to smirk, she'd hit a drop shot force Arai to run up to the net barely returning it, which made the hit became a lob and Kitana took her chance and smashed it at the baseline. "Hey, look over there! Arai's playing a match against a girl and she's holding out alright." "Arai, you know you're playing Tezuka-buchou's sister?" Arai looked at his friend, "No way!" He exclaimed, shocked "30-love," said the referee. Arai cursed, another point for that girl. "You are gonna get into a ton of trouble, you know that? Better forfeit now." Arai agreed. A crowd surrounded the court. "Why you guys all here?" A booming voice demanded. Then, a guy replied, "Oh, we're watching a match between Arai and some girl." "Nani, nani? Kitana-chan's playing again, nya?" "Yeah, Kikumaru-senpai, she's very good too." The guy replied but then realised what he had just said, " Ahhh! Tezuka-buchou? Kikumaru-senpai? Gomenasai!" He apologized and ran off with everyone else that was regarding the game. "Ten laps." Tezuka yelled. "Kitana, what are you doing here?" Tezuka asked, exasperatedly. "Syuusuke-kun said I could temporarily take care of the club when you were out for the game." Kitana told him. Tezuka twitched, since when was she on first name bases with Fuji? Kitana was prepared at her brothers booming voice. "Alright Regulars, first ten laps then get a partner to help you stretch and when you are done play a match with that person." Tezuka ordered. Kitana and Arai was now left to be scolded by Tezuka. "Arai, thirty laps around the court." Tezuka said. Arai left hurrily he'd rather run thirty laps than be Tezuka's sister any day. When he left, Tezuka turned to Kitana, "Kitana, what has gotten in to you? Thirty laps around the field too! When you're done go to the front of the school to wait for me you've caused enough trouble." His deep voice told her. Even if Tezuka was Kitana's brother, he never yelled at her like that to her before. She held her tears and went to run. She'd caught up with Arai around the court. "Hey, Tezuka-buchou no imouto!" Kitana ignored him and sped up passing him. "Damn, don't ignore me like that, brat." Arai tugged on her shoulder back and accidentally saw the tears that were in her eyes. The sight overwhelmed him, the girl's eyes were mist up and her cheeks were red and her lips looked really puffy He was stunned for a moment, Tezuka's sister was crying? The moment felt like it passed slowly for Arai until Kitana escaped from his grasp. "O-Oi!" Arai sped up too, "What's your problem?" Kitana shook her head and manage to escape again. Arai decided it was best not to associate with her right now. He thought about what he just saw now.

When Kitana was at her twenty-first lap, she saw a crowd forming around the court. She walked over to see the commotion. Kitana saw Ryoma versus Fuji, the match was intense. Kitana saw Fuji use Higuma Otoshi on Ryoma and Ryoma couldn't even return it. Kitana wondered, why can't she be the one to stop Ryoma, not Fuji? Suddenly, she heard one of the members exclaimed, "Even Echizen can't beat Fuji." Kitana wondered if her ears had heard right, Echizen? "Hey, is he really THE Echizen Ryoma?" Kitana demanded. The members looked shocked for a second, "Yeah, I can't believe you never knew." One of them told her. But his friend whispered a warning into his ear. "Oi, that Tezuka-buchou's little sister!" Kitana sighed exasperated, for once can't they acknowledge her for her success not her brother's? Kitana got back to her intended question, "So, who is Horio?" She asked. The guy stifled a laugh, "That's Echizen friend. That first year yelling over there!" He jerked his thumb towards the cheering Horio. Kitana flushed with embarrassement at the fact she had mistakened Ryoma and Horio. "So, that kid on the court is Echizen Ryoma?" Kitana asked politely as possible so they will tell her. The guy blushed and stammered, " Yeah." Kitana jaws dropped, he was the guy she had came to Japan for to beat! She quickly recovered from her shock and went back to her old personality. "Thanks a lot, dude!" As she gave him punch on the shoulder. She knew it wasn't a smart idea to skip her punishment but she was more eager to beat Ryoma than do some stupid punishment. She went to the only place she could think of to improve and get better, the public tennis courts.

"I wonder if he's here today." Kitana pondered. She went to the place she was practising last time and saw two guys already there. Although she knew it wasn't a good idea to pick fights but she really had no other place to practise. She walked up to them and asked, "Hey guys, are you done with this court? Cause I wanna use it." Their heads turned to see who it was then smirked. "Alright little girl, since your pretty we can give you the court," They said, "But, you need to win us, in doubles. If you don't win you get to come a have a little fun with us. If we lose, you can have the court and we'll leave." Kitana did not like where this was going. "But, as you can see I have no partner." She irritatedly pointed out. The guys gave her a crooked, perverted grin, "Well, that's too bad huh? Why don't you just come with us then?" Kitana pushed one of them away from her, "DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU IMBECILE!" She yelled. The guy smirked, "Hot and feisty, impressive." Kitana grimaced at him. "Stop flirting with people younger than you. Are you that desperate?" A voice snapped. Kitana swirled around to see the person, it was girl. The girl had long, red hair, brown eyes and a yellow jersey just like the one she had seen the other day. The girl face was emotionless despite the coldness in her voice. Kitana's face turned into a smiled, "Just in time. Can you play doubles with me?" The girl turned to Kitana, "What's your name?" She asked her now in a normal tone. "My name is Kitana." The girl nodded, "Kazuki Airi," "I'll play doubles with you." Kitana's smile widened. "Great," Kitana turned around and walked up to the net and got in position, "Why don't begin kicking some ass, Kazuki-san?" Airi nodded, "Doesn't sound too bad, What do you have in mind?" Airi responded. Kitana wondered for a second. "I'm not much of a doubles player, but let's try the australian formation." Kitana replied. Airi nodded and went to the baseline and got in position to serve. The guy smirked, "Alright you got lucky. But, if you guys lose you and your friend comes with us." Kitana rolled her eyes and spat, "In your dreams, moron." Airi served. It went speeding towards the middle line. Kitana was suprised she could hit accurate shots. She really had just that this Kazuki Airi was just a normal player that she could use. Kitana turned around and smiled at her. "That was a good beginning." She complimented. Airi faced her with a smile gracing her lips and she said, "Thank you." Kitana was glad that the girl finally smiled. As the match continue, the girls got to know each other a bit. Kitana realized even if she had had nothing in common besides tennis with the girl, they became good friends. They swap courts and Kitana and Airi chatted for a while on the bench. Kitana had learned that Airi plays data tennis through drawing the opponents form, she had photographic memory and that she was also related to a tennis bigshot. They went up to the courts again, facing their opponents. The score was five games to one. The guys seemed very tired and couldn't keep up with the girls, so they forfeited. Kitana smirked while Airi frowned, "That wasn't really the victory I hoped for." Kitana grinned, "But at least we won and we don't have to go and 'have fun' with those dweebs." She pointed out, making air quotes around 'have fun'. Airi shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. My cousin will be here to pick me up in a while." Kitana nodded, "Alright then, Airi-chan. I'll stay and chat until he comes." Airi nodded. They exchanged numbers and chatted about different things, mainly on tennis though.

"Airi!" A voice boomed behind Kitana, a smile appeared on Airi's face, "Renji!" Kitana turned around to stare at Airi's relative. He was tall! Kitana stopped at his nose. Kitana looked up, her eyes widen, "You! You were with that group of people yesterday, the one with the violent, anger-management crazy psycho who attacked me!." Yanagi nodded, "Sorry about the things Akaya had done to you, I assure you, he had learned his lesson." Kitana was suprised at the apology nevertheless, she glared, "I'm glad you got the thing on a leash." She spat. Airi frowned with disapproval, "Akaya isn't a monster or anything of that sort." Kitana murmured, "If he plays like that, you can't blame me." Airi sighed and rubbed her temples, "Well..." Yanagi interuppted, "Airi, it's time for us to leave. It's good finally meet you,Tezuka Kitana. I heard that you are a phenominal player, I hope to meet you on the courts someday." Kitana blushed and nodded. She was used to so many people complimenting her, why did he have this special effect? Could it be... Kitana quickly shook the thought away from her head. She smiled and waved good-bye.

As they left, Kitana kept on thinking about what happened. Why did she blush? It wasn't as if she liked him, although he is very good-looking so you can't blame her. She sighed and made her way home.  



End file.
